It was a huge week for new releases with nine of them reach the top 30, including four of the top five. The new number one film was Pinocchio, which sold 1.40 million units and generated $23.78 million in consumer spending at retail.
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Technical difficulties with Amazon's site meant this column was a lot harder to get done than usual. However, I won't hold that against this week's releases, and there are a number that are worthy of the DVD Pick of the Week from practically every category. TV on DVD has Andy Richter Controls the Universe - The Complete Series, from the classics we have The Odd Couple - Centennial Collection, from new releases we have Bolt - Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack, Blu-ray offers us James Bond Blu-ray Collection - Volume 3. We even have a late entry, as Let the Right One In - Blu-ray arrived. All five are worthy of the DVD Pick of the Week, but if I was forced to chose just one, Bolt - Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack would probably please the most people. After a couple of "slow" weeks, we are back to splitting the column into two parts.
The first part can be found here.
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Technical difficulties with Amazon's site meant this column was a lot harder to get done than usual. However, I won't hold that against this week's releases, and there are a number that are worthy of the DVD Pick of the Week from practically every category. TV on DVD has Andy Richter Controls the Universe - The Complete Series, from the classics we have The Odd Couple - Centennial Collection, from new releases we have Bolt - Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack, Blu-ray offers us James Bond Blu-ray Collection - Volume 3. We even have a late entry, as Let the Right One In - Blu-ray arrived. All five are worthy of the DVD Pick of the Week, but if I was forced to chose just one, Bolt - Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack would probably please the most people. After a couple of "slow" weeks, we are back to splitting the column into two parts. The second part can be found here.
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First run releases let us down again, as the best they can offer is a couple of midlevel hits. There are a few more in the limited release category, including some Awards Season players. However, from that list the best is Let the Right One In on Blu-ray. The best release overall, and the winner of the DVD Pick of the Week is Pinocchio on Blu-ray.
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Frost/Nixon had one of the best openings of the year, earning a per theater average of $60,236 in three theaters.
Second place on the per theater chart was Milk with an average of $18,534 in just a hair under 100 theaters.
Slumdog Millionaire is showing incredible legs and earned an average of $17,977 theaters in 78 theaters while My Name is Bruce rounded out the $10,000 club with $17,214 in one theater, the best weekend of its run.
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We have a surprise upset on the per theater chart as My Name is Bruce came out of nowhere to win the race to the top with $16,432 in one theater. I don't know how well it will expand, and its reviews suggest it won't, but no matter what happens theatrically, it should be a big hit on the home market. Noah's Arc: Jumping the Broom remained in second place with an average of $14,866 in five theaters. That was a greater than 50% drop-off, which is extremely high for a limited release and suggests limited potential to expand. Likewise, Synecdoche, New York fell harshly this past weekend but still added almost $100,000 in nine theaters for an average of $11,040. One last note, Let the Right One In expanded its theater count to seven and just missed the $10,000 mark with an average of $9,528.
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Changeling's weaker than expected reviews didn't hurt it at the box office, at least not its opening weekend. The film topped the per theater chart with an impressive average of $32,601 in 15 theaters. Noah's Arc: Jumping the Broom placed a close second with a surprisingly strong average of $30,336 in five theaters. Synecdoche, New York also opened better than expected despite weaker than expected reviews with an average of $19,133 in nine theaters. Let the Right One In did something no horror film has been able to do in a while: survive in limited release. It opened in four theaters with nearly $50,000 for an average of $12,324. Now all it has to do is maintain this momentum as it expands. The final film in the $10,000 club was the overall box office leader, High School Musical 3, which opened with an average of $11,601 in saturation release.
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It looks like the streak of limited release misses will continue this weekend as Changeling is not living up to expectations with critics. There are still a couple of limited releases opening this weekend that are definitely worth checking out such as Let the Right One In and Fears of the Dark, but the odds are that neither will find an audience until the home market.
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Weekly US DVD Sales

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